They should, by rights, be tragedies. In fact, they begin full of rage, injustice and exile. But somehow through magic, the supernatural, love and devotion, the characters come to an understanding and a forgiveness. The plays that begin with upheaval and revolution end with resignation and acceptance of the shortcomings of life and even declare the possibility of joy. They are undoubtedly the plays of an old Shakespeare trying to leave the stage and life better than he found them.

They are not romances in the contemporary sense of the word. They are plays that deal with death, betrayal, and infidelity — But because they are infused with magical realism, they have happy rather than tragic endings. The romances are plays of forgiveness and reconciliation. They often seem like plays in which Hamlet would say “I can accept that” and the MacBeths would decide to negotiate rather than murder.